Legal/Homeschool Laws
Laws that regulate home education vary from state to state. It is important to understand the legal requirements in your state and to be aware of legislative and other legal issues that affect homeschoolers in your community. We've compiled resources that will help you become informed. Although homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, and the vast majority of homeschoolers face no problems, you may find that you need legal assistance at some point in your homeschooling career. We've compiled a list of resources to help you find the support you need. And if you'd like to become more involved in working towards homeschooling freedoms, we discuss some of the issues facing homeschoolers that we hope you find compelling.
State Laws
Read the laws regulating home education in Nebraska and browse through the case law and legal opinions relating to those laws, along with government publications relating to homeschooling and summaries of the laws.
Forms
Which forms do you need to fill out? Where can you get them? Here is a list of useful forms for homeschooling in Nebraska.
Legal Support
If you need legal information or have run into a legal situation regarding your decision to homeschool, these resources will be helpful.
Lobbying Groups
A listing of local and national lobbying groups and information on how you can become involved in the political process to ensure the freedom to homeschool is protected.
Attorneys
When searching for an attorney, it is helpful to know whether he or she has experience working with homeschoolers and is interested in protecting the right to homeschool.
Legal Issues
Is homeschooling legal? Which laws pertain to homeschoolers and which don't? How do homeschoolers protect their rights to freely educate their children and to preserve their privacy?
Government Resources
A listing of local and state government resources, including your state's Department of Education, school districts, and Senate and House of Representative information.
What's Popular
Exempt (Home) School Program: General Information
In Nebraska, "home schools" are referred to as exempt schools and are considered non-approved or non-accredited schools. On this site you will find information pertaining to the law affecting exempt schools, the rules and regulations, frequently asked questions, resources, and the forms used to file for an exemption. Provided by the Nebraska Department of Education.
Colorado Statute 22-32-116.5
Extracurricular and interscholastic activities. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, each school district and each public school, subject to the requirements of this section, shall allow any student enrolled in a school or participating in a nonpublic home-based educational program to participate on an equal basis in any activity offered by the school district or the public school that is not offered at the student's school of attendance or through the student's nonpublic home-ba...
Nebraska Home School Laws from HSLDA
The Home School Legal Defense Association provides a brief summary of the homeschooling laws in Nebraska. Includes a link to a legal analysis of laws relating to homeschooling in Nebraska.
Nebraska Christian Home Educators Association (NCHEA)
The NCHEA was founded in 1986 under the name Nebraska Home Educators Association. In 1993, the name was changed to Nebraska Christian Home Educators Association (NCHEA) to more effectively identify the fundamental principles on which the leadership of the NCHEA functions and its mission to serve Nebraska Christian home schooling families. NCHEA monitors legislation, legal, and political issues on state and national levels that affect home schooling families and parental rights.
It is a organiz...
79-1605 Private, denominational, or parochial schools; inspection by public school official; when required.
The superintendent of the high school
district and its affiliated territory in which any private,
denominational, or parochial school is located, which school is
not otherwise inspected by an area or diocesan representative
holding a Nebraska certificate to administer, shall inspect such
schools and report to the proper officers any evidence of failure
to observe any of the provisions of sections 79-1601 to 79-1607.
The Commissioner of Education, when in his or her j...
Special Education Provisions for Colorado: Regulations and Resources for Your Special Needs Homeschool
If you are homeschooling a child with special needs, you need to follow your state’s homeschool regulations. There are no additional requirements for homeschooling children with special needs.
Colorado Statute 25-4-902
Details of the state of Colorado requirements for immunizations.
Rule 12
Regulations and procedures for exempting schools for which parents elect not to meet legal requirements for school approval and accreditation for other than religious reasons. Rule 12 affidavits state that the requirements for school approval and accreditation required by law interfere with the decisions of the parents or legal guardians in directing their child's education.
79-201 Compulsory education; attendance required; exceptions.
(1) For purposes of this section:
(a) Prior to July 1, 2005, a child is of mandatory
attendance age if the child (i) has reached seven years of age,
(ii) did not reach sixteen years of age prior to July 16, 2004,
and (iii) has not reached eighteen years of age; and
(b) On and after July 1, 2005, a child is of mandatory
attendance age if the child (i) will reach six years of age prior
to January 1 of the then-current school year, (ii) did not reach
sixteen ...
79-1606 Private, denominational, or parochial schools; nonconformity with school law; penalty.
In case any private, denominational, or
parochial school, after a final determination by the proper
authorities under sections 79-1601 to 79-1607, fails, refuses, or
neglects to conform to and comply with such sections, no person
shall be granted or allowed a certificate to teach in such school
and the pupils attending such school shall be required to attend
the public school of the proper district as provided by law in
like manner as though there were no such private, den...
79-214 Admission of children; kindergarten or beginner grade; age; evidence of physical examination; when; exception.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of
this section, the school board of any school district shall not
admit any child into the kindergarten or beginner grade of any
school of such school district unless such child has reached the
age of five years or will reach such age on or before October 15
of the current year.
(2) The board may admit a child who will reach the age
of five between October 16 and February 1 of the current school
year if the parent or g...
How to Homeschool in Colorado
This how to begin homeschooling guide is presented by CHEC, Christian Home Educators of Colorado. It details the basics, with the first steps for you to take and lots of great information to get started homeschooling in Colorado.
Rule 13
Regulations and procedures for exempting schools for which parents elect not to meet legal requirements for state approval and accreditation. Rule 13 affidavits state that the requirements for school approval and accreditation required by law violate the parents' or legal guardians' sincerely held religious beliefs.
79-1601 Private, denominational, or parochial schools, teachers, and employees; laws applicable; election not to meet accreditation or approval requirements.
(1) Except as provided in subsections (2)
through (6) of this section, all private, denominational, and
parochial schools in the State of Nebraska and all teachers
employed or giving instruction in such schools shall be subject
to and governed by the provisions of the general school laws of
the state so far as the same apply to grades, qualifications, and
certification of teachers and promotion of pupils. All private,
denominational, and parochial schools shall ha...
79-1604 Private, denominational, or parochial schools; management and control.
For the purposes of sections 79-1601 to
79-1607, the owner or governing board of any private,
denominational, or parochial school shall have authority to
select and purchase textbooks, equipment, and supplies, to employ
teachers, and to have and exercise the general management of the
school, subject to the provisions of such sections.
Looking for Another State?
Featured Resources
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Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum: A Guide to Catholic Home Education
In this book, Laura Berquist offers a curriculum based on the philosophy of the classical Trivium: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. This valuable tools helps home educators craft a liberal arts curriculum that is good for both the soul and the intellect...
Guerrilla Learning: How to Give Your Kids a Real Education With or Without School
If you’ve ever felt that your child wasn’t flourishing in school or simply needs something the experts aren’t supplying, you’re ready to become a "guerrilla educator." this books explains what’s wrong (and what’s useful) about our traditional schools...
Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book Of Homeschooling
The classic work on teaching children at home, updated for today's new laws, new lifestyles, and a new generation of homeschooling parents. Today more than one and a half million children are being taught at home by their own parents. In this expand...
More Charlotte Mason Education: A Home Schooling How-To Manual
After providing an important work in explaining the Charlotte Mason method for homeschoolers, Catherine Levison goes deeper into the use of this method in the home with her subsequent work. This book expands the information from the first book and of...
For the Learners' Sake: Brain-Based Instruction for the 21st Century
This proposal for a platform of education reform needed to prepare students for a 21st-century workplace and society draws on information and ideas from two current areas in neuroscience: brain research (physiology and applications to learning) and s...